Duty and Love
by velvetsins
Summary: It was a dream come true. Hinata is to marry her childhood love, but after all what happened between her and Neji, her feelings changed drastically. What will she do when she is face to face with Naruto, the one she always thought she loved? Will she choose love or duty? [NejiHina x Oneshot x NejiHinaWeek2016 x Rated T]


**Hi, people! xD**

 **Well... I know I should be updating either The Duke's Lover or Remember, I'm working on both of them right now, but when I was scrolling my tumblr and I saw a post about the upcoming NejiHina Week, I was all... OMG. OMG. OMG.**

 **You know me and know that I'm a very lazy and slow writer, so I was like... hm... this could force me to write a NejiHina without the problem of a long fic and getting stuck with it in the middle and you know slow updates and all. So... why not try myself with oneshots? So here you have the first one (there will be seven of them. Actually, it was supposed to be a short prompt, but it's me and 2k is the shorter I can do, it seems). Needless to say it's** **my first time trying a Naruto fanfiction, actually, a NejiHina fanfic. And it'll probably be OOC, but well... I tried my best to keep them IC.**

 **Keep in mind English is not my first language, so a few mistakes will surely pass.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does, but I own this plot. I also don't own the cover either, it belongs to kimiquin. If you go to my tumblr (velvetsins) you will find the fanart in which I got some inspiration for this oneshot as well ^^**

 **Enjoy!**

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 **Prompt 1 - Marriage**

 _ **Duty and Love**_

 _By velvetsins_

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 _Mine._

The deep, husky voice sounded in her ear as he nibbled the awaiting flesh of her neck.

 _Mine._

Neji has never been a possessive man. He was quite aware — painful aware, if she might add — of the fact she was out of his reach. And no matter how much his view of life seemed fatalistic, she knew he was right. There was no way her family — the Elders — would allow a relationship such as theirs to become known.

Not that Neji was lacking. He was far from it. He was more suitable than herself to be the Hyūga heir, a true genius among skilled men. Instead, they were stuck with someone as common as herself. Someone who lacked in almost everything.

Back pressed flush against his, she let out a small moan at the harsh treatment inflicted upon her skin.

Yes. He has never been as possessive as that night.

Earlier, they had been summoned to the meeting room, where the Elders awaited both of them. She was worried sick they had somehow discovered their little secret. They knew, she was sure of it, and they would punish them. Punish him by activating the cursed seal and punish her by forcing her to watch him in pain.

No.

She would never allow that.

She loved him.

She loved him with all her being. She would step ahead of him and take the due punishment herself. She would never let them treat him the way they did in the past. Before, she was a weak being, a pathetic girl who could barely stand her ground. No. She was _kunoichi_ now. A skilled _kunoichi_ who would not let anyone harm the one she loved.

She would protect him.

With her life, if needed.

Foolish Hinata, lost in thoughts of undying love and bravery, was not ready for that came next. She could say Neji did not expect it either.

The meeting, however, was not to punish any of them. Instead, a far more cruel and painful sentence was thrown upon them.

The heiress was to marry.

Marry. Marry someone of _their_ choosing.

Neji spoke nothing. Actually, Hinata was still trying to understand why they summoned him as well. Did they know?

 _Impossible._

They were so quiet, so calm, so collected. Unless someone — Hanabi — gave they away. She did not think it was possible. It was so unlike her sister, she could not even begin to explain.

And as quick as they were summoned, they were dismissed and parted ways. If everything turned out well after the War that approached, she was to marry after the Fourth Shinobi War was over.

If they ever came out of it alive.

Of course she would. The Elders would ensure to punish Neji greatly if the heiress did not survive. Actually, thinking harder about it, she knew they would be grateful if she, an unsuitable heiress, were to die. Hanabi would make a finer ruler.

She did not see Neji for the rest of the day.

But later that night, he was the one to look for her. It never occurred before. Their night interludes always happened in his room and she always went for him.

Now, as she held his powerful arms as he nibbled her ear, she let out a sigh. He was mad, she knew he was. _Kami, she was mad!_ She saw the control he always prided himself of almost slipping between his fingers as her upcoming marriage was announced.

He said nothing as he entered her room and when she opened her mouth to greet him with her usual _Neji-nii-san_ —a habit she could not get rid of and one he did not approve of —, his lips were upon hers in an overpowering kiss. Soon enough she found herself trapped between his perfect sculpted torso and her large _futon._

 _Mine._

He growled low in his chest, his fingers playing with the opening of her baby blue night _yukata._ His eyes, twins to hers, did not leave her as he caressed the smooth flesh of her belly.

 _Yours,_ she replied, kissing his jaw lovingly.

 _I love you, Neji. I always will._

With her confession, she lost herself to pleasure in his arms.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Hinata's blank eyes snapped open in a rush. She looked around and without rationalizing it further, she activated her byakugan and looked around, searching for the one whom more than often took her mind.

There was no one around. No traces of chakra or anything related to that. Neji was not there.

In fact, Neji would never be there.

Not anymore.

Neji was gone.

It was just a dream. A dream that played in the back of her mind for so many times she could not count in both of her hands.

Tears, even after so many months, accumulated at the corners of her eyes, but she did not let them scroll down her face. She had to be stronger. The time to be weak had passed.

No one knew where he went. They just knew he departed. He could even be dead and she would probably never know. The War was over and her marriage closer. There was no farewell. He never bid goodbye.

Their last encounter repeated itself in dreams. With the marriage closer than ever, she could not help herself, but dream about him and their last time together. The feel of his hands and lips still burned in her skin, the way his eyes, so alike hers, never left hers as he worshiped her entire body.

Hinata looked at the sun rising in the horizon. It was the fateful day of her weeding. Soon enough the maids and Hanabi would enter her room to help her getting ready for the ceremony.

Her future husband was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, the man to soon be crowned Hogake. The man who fought alongside her in the War and protected so many villagers. _Protected her._ The man she admired the most. But that she no longer loved.

Hinata once wanted to be his more than anything. She dreamed of being Naruto's wife. But it was a far, far forgotten thought. It was not what she wanted anymore.

To everyone around her, including her father and excluding Hanabi — the only one who knew about her secret affair — it was a dream come true. The shy Hinata would marry her childhood love, the one she adored in the open, the one she dreamed of in the sweet days of infancy and early adolescence.

But Hinata was not a child anymore. Her feelings changed.

She still admired Naruto, he was a very admirable man, the one she still admired the most, but the one she no longer loved. Has she ever loved him?

In her heart, another took root and he would never go away. He would always remain there, holding the grip over the vital organ. She knew there was not the slightest chance for her to love Naruto anymore.

Neji was the owner of her mind, body, _soul…_ And no matter how much she tried to fight her feelings and forget him after he left, he was encrusted in her being, deeply carved in her soul. Hinata even thought about hating him — hate was a human feeling after all — but foolish Hinata learned a lot in her life, but she never did learn how to hate. It would come in hand now.

He hurt her.

He hurt her feelings.

He hurt her very soul when he left with no proper goodbye, but she could not bring herself to resent him. She knew how much it hurt him, _hurt his pride_ , to watch her go. To have to let her go. How much it hurt him to know he was helpless. _Because they were helpless._ If there was someone to be blamed it was Hinata herself, for being weak, for not standing for them, for not fighting for them.

For her own happiness.

She was doomed.

When Hanabi poked her head through the _shōji_ doors, Hinata knew it was no longer time to debate over her feelings. She accepted that marriage — not that she had much of a choice —, she better not spoil it as she spoiled everything else in her life.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Clad in her formal attire, the heiress looked at the ancient doors of the shrine where her future husband waited for her. She could hear the commotion inside the shrine. Even if few were invited for the religious celebration, as for the party to be held soon, invitations were sent to the entire village.

No one was close to her now. Hanabi had entered the shrine before her and so did her father. The entire family, from the elders to a few trusted servants of the Branch House — except for the one she expected to see the most, at least one last time — waited for her.

But Hinata… Sweet Hinata they expected to be as frantic and excited the most turned her head around and thought about back away.

Coward Hinata who had backed away so many times in her life, who had always left when the situation became too complicated… The coward girl who almost died in her very fight against Neji, so many years before.

No. She did not resent him. She did not hate him for that day, even if she almost died by his very hands. She forgave him. Forgave him so long time ago.

She loved him.

Even there. She loved him.

She accepted the beating because she loved him and she knew how much he was suffering. She knew that deep down under the shell of hate lay an unbearable pain. And she fought him because she wanted to show him how much she understood him, how much she loved him. She only wanted to prove herself. To prove worthy of the title she always thought she took from him.

Neji should be the heir. He would make a finer commander. He knew of politics far better than her, he knew how to fight. He was a genius after all. The Hyūga prodigious.

But just like back then, she hurt him.

She hurt him with her weakness.

His father was dead because of her. He was gone because of her.

Because of her weakness.

She closed her eyes, trying to dissipate the bad feelings. She knew her chakra was going wild along with her heartbeats. A Hyūga was supposed to be an expect chakra controller.

A Hyūga was supposed to be so many things she was not. Of all the things that did not go along well with a Hyūga, weakness was the worst trait and Hinata seemed to excel at it. She had been weak so many times before.

And exactly because she was weak, and distracted and hurt and foolishly thinking of the past she almost missed the rich brown hair dancing in the air.

 _Almost_.

Before she could even think about it properly, she was holding her kimono and running away from the shrine.

"Neji…" she muttered, eyes widened.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Nothing.

There was nothing.

No one there.

Hinata found herself back to the room where she made the most amazing memories of her life — be it making love to Neji or simply watching him practicing _shod_ _ō_ or mediating.

The memories of old, good times burned in the back of her mind.

 _I love you._

Slowly, she approached the desk where the papers and brushes he used to practice his _shod_ _ō_ still lay in the wooden case.

The room remained intact.

When the elders decided to get rid of everything there, she was the one to throw a tantrum. They should never touch a thing inside her cousin's room. It should remain that way, because he would return. He would!

But he never did.

Six months passed since the end of the War and the genius never showed his face.

He could be pretty much dead and she would never know.

The Elders were adamant. An outcast should not be worshiped. And Neji was an outcast. He departed by his own choice, with no plausible explanation.

But Neji did have a plausible reason. Hinata knew and that's why she never blamed him. She could not.

The burning sensation in her eyes and the lump in her throat became stronger as she touched the _daruma_ doll they had bought together.

Contrary to him, she was a believer and she still clung to the idea, as foolish as it may seem, that he was alive. She still bought another _daruma_ doll to make a wish upon it. He had to be alive!

As painful as it would be, it was better to have his hate than to find him dead.

She still remembered how he denied vehemently to indulge in what he probably thought was a foolishness.

The memory of being held in his arms that night still clung to her mind and how sweet was the final surprise.

 _Thank you for loving me._

And then the adorable memory of the Sakura Festival.

Sweet old times played back in front of her very eyes as she held the cable of a huge and dead sunflower. How he looked bored as she explained everything she could about flowers and plants. Even if he did not understand a thing about what she was saying, he kept listening, because he knew how much she loved every opportunity she had to show him more of herself.

He seemed adamant to engage in the Flower Festival, mostly known as the Sakura Festival, but he did in the end, because it was her and Neji would do everything for her.

How she missed the time before the War exploded right in their faces. Better yet, the time before the announcement of her upcoming marriage.

After their intense lovemaking that very night he grew distant. The encounters in the corners of the mansion and the slight touches when they thought no one was watching them… All of it was gone. Cold, unfeeling and emotionless Neji was back.

His control would slip sometimes and they would indulge in a senseless night of love, but as soon as they were finished, he would leave her… her heart bleeding, crumpled between his very fingers.

 _It was for the best._

She knew he was guarding himself. His feelings and he was also thinking of her. What would be of her if she ended up knocked up? While most of _kunoichi_ were on contraceptive jutsu, it was not highly uncommon to have nins getting pregnant all the same.

What a shame if she, married to Naruto, the upcoming Hokage and a man she admired — she had to remember that, no matter how much she loved her cousin and would very much enjoy mothering his child, she was to be Naruto's wife — were to bare Neji's offspring.

She shook her head.

But what if she had decided to fight the Elders… Would Neji still be by her side? Would he still be there?

 _Thank you for loving me._

The words returned to her. Because no matter how much she knew he did, in spite of the fact he never said the words, Hinata knew that there was very little of her worthy of love. _His love._

 _Thank you for loving me._

She said in the episode of the Daruma Doll and the Sakura Festival. And said billions of times later.

And even if he did not love her anymore, she was still glad he did once.

As for she...

Even if the duty was what she would choose, because she was too much of a coward to disappoint her family again and mainly Neji's sacrifice for both of them — he was the one to dissuade her from fighting for them when they first started their encounters. How she regretted listening to him. If she fought the Elders back then, if she stood her ground perhaps they would still be together. She would no longer be heiress, of course, but she cared very little for her title — over love, she would never stop loving him.

Again, all she could think as how she was grateful she had loved, and had been loved, at least once.

As she headed back to the shrine and to Naruto's arms the words repeated like a mantra in her mind.

 _Thank you for loving me._

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 **Vocabulary:**

 **Daruma doll -** Japanese amulet in which people make wishes upon

Shodō **-** Japanese practice of calligraphy

Shōji **-** translucid doors made of rice paper

 **Yukata -** light kimono made of cotton

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 **A/N - I know it's kind of depressing, but I can't seem to think of Hinata fighting her family in such issue, mainly because Neji is gone? Why did he leave?**

 **Well... Apart from the two of the seven prompts, which are AU setting, all of the others are connected and there will be a continuation for this prompt, two I think... I'm thinking about it (not all of them are finished and probably won't be until the end of this week, sorry, again, lazy and slow writer and work has been killing me. Working as a secretary is no easy feat, guys) and there will be two which is before them. They are finished, and goes by the title of The Sakura Kiss (3rd prompt) and The Daruma Doll (4th prompt). But fear not (and freat not, hehe), all of them can be read on their own, so you don't have to feel like it's your duty to read all of them.**

 **If you want to read the summaries, go to my profile. You'll find them there ^^**

 **Anyway, hope you have enjoyed this little oneshot from me. I enjoyed writing it very much.**

 **And, if possible,** Remember, chp 5 "Down the Rabbit Hole" **will be updated today.**

 **Take care,**

 **Velvetsins**


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